Improvement in propelling canal-boats



2 Sheets--Sheet1.

A. ionnsw. Propelling {lanai-Boats.

Patented Feb. 18,1873.

flttomeys.

AM. PHOTO-UTHOGRAPHICCO.MY(0SBOR1VEPROCESQ 2 Sheets sh eet 2.

. A. JOHNSON. Propelling Canal-Boats.

No. 136,064, Patented Feb.18,18,73.

UNITED, STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

ASA JOHNSON, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT roWM. H. JOHNSON, OF NEW YORK orrv.

IMPR OVEMENT IN PRO PELLING CANAL-BOATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 136,064, dated February18, 1873.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, ASA JOHNSON, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings andin theState of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Mode of Propelling Canal-Boats; and do herebydeclarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters ofrefer-' ence marked thereon making a part of this specification. p

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arrangementof certain devices for propelling canal-boats, as will be 7 use thesame, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation,referring to the annexed drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinalvertical section of my canal-boat. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of thesame. Fig. 3 is a detached view, showing the device for reversing themotion; and Fig.

4 is a plan view of the entire canalboat.

The same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures. I Theengine consists of the ordinary cylinder A, with piston and cross-headA. The crossheadA carries the connections B B, which also carry thearmsOO and G 0 bytmeans of the bolts 0 The arms (J 0 work freely on theshafts D D or sleeves D D, and between each pair of arms 0 G are theratchet-wheels E r E, in which are notches E so made that they may bedriven either way at will by doublefaced pawls E E which work on bolts 00 whichare governed and kept in their proper position by sliding catchesE ;E .and springs E E, which are-all on arms Q VC, and .by the 1 armsare kept in proper position to work direction.

well. The ratchetwheels E E are secured to and carry the shafts D D orsleeves D D,

-whichever plan is preferred. Said shafts D D or sleeves D D carry thegear F F and paddlesG G; and by the gear-wheels F F the ratchet-wheels EE are both and all kept moving at the same time, in the proper directionto bring around the notches E in all the wheels at the proper time toallow the pawls E E to operate in all the notches of the differentwheels as they move around, thereby keeping up acontinuous forwardmovement of the paddle or other wheels that may be placed on the shaftsD D in one and the same The motion of the ratchets E E is reversed byreversing the pawls E E, by means'of the connections H H, springs H Ht,shafts H, wheels H H*, and handle H which are so arranged as to reverseall the pawls by one and the same motion, the handle H being held inplace by spring H The wheels H H are made larger than the shafts H sothat the springs H in more immediate connection with the handle H shallcontrol those wound around the shaft H and keep-the pawls E in placewhile working forward or backward, according as the handle H may be setat l or 2. See Fig. 3.) By crowding the handle H beyond the position 1or 2, the elastic strings will be stretched until the chains 1 come intoaction and exert a positive pressure on the pawls E causing them to actas brakes upon the periphery of the ratchets E, when desirable. Theprofile lines w of the working parts of the notches E in theratchet-wheels, as well as the profile linesof the teethon thegear-wheels, are made on the same curve as the outer surface of theperiphery of the wheels on which they are formed, while the workingparts 3 of the pawls E and sliding catches E are formed of parts circlesof one-half the diameter of the ratchet-wheels E, thereby causing themall to roll smoothly together, and bear equally to gether at all points,and make them noiseless. They may be made on any circle that can bestruck from one point or end of the tooth or projection to the other butI prefer to make them on the circle of the periphery of the wheel orrollers on which they are formed. It is very important that all theprofile lines of the teeth or projections on wheels or rollers that areto roll together should be made on one true circle from one point to theother, in order to be round and roll together noiselessly. I shows amanner of constructing a paddle or oar of a concave form. The spring ordriving side, being concave, with a rubber or other elastic substance,I, stretched across and firmly secured by the rim I or other suitablemanner, to the paddle or oar, by the rubbers giving to the pressure ofthe paddle against the water, secures the advantages of the concave formwhile in action, and of its spring to straighten and clear itselfquietly when coming out of the water. K shows my boat, the lower part ofwhich forms pontoons, supporters, or compartments L L L, which havelight covers J secured to the openings L. The form. of these supportersis of an oval, wedge, or trout shape, slightly tapering from near thebow, where they are the widest, to the stern, where they come to a thinedge or point. They are made of sheet metal cut and bent theabove-mentioned shape, and firmly secured to the bottom of any suitableboat, by means of turning a flange on the upper edge of the supporters,and firmly rivet them to the bottom of the boat, after which the seamsare to be soldered or brazed, to make them strong, and the cavity insideperfectly airtight. Then by cutting any desirable size or shapedopenings L, with a suitable cover to fit over it, which may be screweddown over it with rubber of any desirable thickness placed under thecover, which, when the covers are screwed down, makes three airtightlongitudinal receptacles on the-under side of the boat K, which may beused for various purposes. B y these longitudinal, oval, wedge, or troutshaped supporters, being constructed and placed as shown in Fig. 4, withthe swallow-tail opening at their bow in front of the paddle-wheels G G,the water is allowed to accumulate in front of the wheels sufficient tosupply the paddle-wheels with water to propel the boat; and as the spacebetween the supporters diverges each way from the point where thepaddle-wheels Gr G are placed, the space being the narrowest at thatpoint, and being full of water behind the wheels, the water is takenaway from in front of the boat and forced back through the narrow space,where the greatest resistance to the paddles is given directly under thewheels-- just the point where they have the most power; then, as thespace there commences to widen as the boat moves forward, more room isleft for the water. As the supporters gradually taper to a thin edge orpoint, the water graduall y closes in against the tapering supportersuntil it comes to a mere point, and thereby leaves but very little wakebehind the boat or swell at the sides, as all the water from the fourpaddle-wheels G G passes through the grooves under the boat, where it isrequired to buoy it up and keep it away from the banks of canal. M showsthe paddle-box over the wheels G G. N shows the water-line a littleabove the level of the floor O or bottom of the boat over the supportersL L L.

Railroad tracks may be arranged longitudinally over the canal for anengine to run on for towing boats; or, in place of paddle-wheels, I mayattach ordinary car-wheels to the shafts on the boat, said wheelsrunning on a track laid on the bottom of the canal, or elevated at anyheight over the same.

The shafts D D, on which the wheels are" placed, should be as near on alevel with the center of the line of bearing of the boats on the wateras possible; and that line is the line on which the connection should beplaced, so as to have the draft on a level, straight'line with the lineon which the boats are to move, as it will require an additional amountof power to tow the boats just in proportion as the angle of draft mayvary from that straight line either way, although it is better to havethe draft from a little above the line than below or on either side ofit; but the nearer the line the better it is.

WVhen I make the boats for tow-boats, 1 place blocks hollowed out oneach side to correspond with and fit over the ends of the rear end ofthe tow-boat, and the ca nal -boats with a staple and link or othersuitable device for connecting the boats together, same as cars areconnected together; or the rear end of the tow -boat, and also the rearend of all the canal-boats, may be made concave to correspond with andfit over the convex form of the forward end of the boat to be towedbehind it, thereby forming a circular hinge or joint between each boatto allow them to bend around curves, 8.50., when connected so closely asto prevent any water from getting between the boat's, so that after thechannel is once opened by the forward part of the tow-boat K all therest of the boats behind it follow in the same channel, therebyrequiring much less power to tow them than it would if they were not soclosely connected by the circular hinges; and by the peculiarconstruction of my boat K, as described, the construction andarrangement of paddlewheels, 850., the boat has increased power.

By the use of my double -actin g ratchet movement, as described, thewhole power of the steam is applied direct on a straight line with theline on which the piston-rod moves to the outer surface of theratchet-wheels, the same being the long end of the lever. Therefore nopower is lost, but the power is in creased in proportion to thesize ofthe ratchet wheels E E.

The application of all the power of the steam direct from the cross-headat the end of the piston-rod to the outer surface of the ratchetwheels EE being on a direct straight line with the line on which the piston-rodmoves, a great number of boats may be towed with one boat or engine,especially when closely connected, as herein described, so that a verylargeamountof freight may be carried on one canal during summer; andrailroad tracks may also be used as a railroad alone in winter.

By using a double gearing, twoshafts, two gear-wheels, tworatchet-wheels, and two pawls for each car or other wheel or shaft to berevolved, l am able to have an equal power with all thepawls, andkeep'up a continuous {motion of the shafts and wheels in one and the.same direction; and by all the'profile linesof would make more. noise,and the teeth would be moreliable to break. The same motion may also beobtained by placing two pawls on one lever-one above and one below thebolt-f-v the upperspawl operating on one side of the wheel, and thelower one on the opposite side of the ratchet-wheel, one of their pointsbeing turned-inward, and the other point turned out .vard, therebycarrying the wheelv in one and the same direction withoutthe gear-wheelsor double ratchet-wheels 5 but the power would not be equal, neitherwould they work as well in other respects; therefore I prefer to use thedouble gearing, as described.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination ofthe shaftsl) D, ratchetwheels E E, pawls E slidingcatches E springs E, and gear-wheels F F, substantially as and for thepurposes herein set forth.

2. In combination with the arms 0 G, pawls E sliding catches E andsprings E the connections H shafts H wheels H handle H chains-'H HZ'andspring H all substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

3. The combination, with a canal-boat of usual form, of two or moremetal floats or air chambers, constructed substantially as shown,

and provided with flanges, whereby said floats may be readily bolted tothe bottom of the boat, for thepurposes set forth.

'In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my-handthis 1st day of July, 1871.

ASA JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

E. N. WARFIELD, SIMON STEreER.

